Being Accountable

"Leaders inspire accountability through their ability to accept responsibility before they place blame."

― Courtney Lynch

At several instances in our lives, we all have been punished for not taking responsibility.

Remember when you have to rework a project because no one in your team took responsibility for failure, and now everyone sulks while working on weekends with a shattered team spirit.

Possessed by our ego, we quickly blame others for failing to execute a task correctly. This is where things start going downhill and before it gets too late, people should know the importance of “Being Accountable.”

Accountability is the willingness to accept responsibility for our actions. In terms of ethics and governance, accountability is equated with answerability, blameworthiness, and liability. It is a virtue of self-improvement, and the journey from “being held accountable” to “being accountable” is what makes responsible leaders.

Leaders are more effective in building a culture of accountability in their organization when they are willing to be held accountable by others.

“It is often said that accountability is the measure of a leader’s height, where owning failure is just as empowering as taking pride in success.”

According to a study on accountability by The American Society of Training and Development, "The probability of goal completion is 65% if you have committed to someone, but goal completion increases drastically up to 95% if you have a specific accountability partner."

Being accountable allows us to make better decisions, both personally and professionally. For example, you might subscribe to a gym and never go exercising after a few days. Still, if you visit your doctor who tells you that you show early signs of obesity, you start feeling the responsibility you have towards yourself and the family members who rely on you. So you commit to yourself, set goals, and take actions to be accountable to yourself regarding your health and well-being.

Similarly, in a professional setting, leaders ask teammates to share perspectives via surveys, polls, or anecdotal discussion so they can make informed decisions. Once the decisions are made, everyone who has been involved takes the onus of executing the plan upon themselves as they feel being accountable for the inputs they give during the decision-making process.

Unfortunately, many people lack the art and audacity to be accountable. Have you ever been in a project at work or in your personal life where people nod their heads and agree with you? Or have you ever been critiqued for how you handled a situation when the person never gave you feedback in time?

The grave costs of non-accountability are:

• Innocent victims and degraded morale

• Missed opportunities and unmet milestones

• Monetary and sunk time costs of reworking

• Chaotic culture at home and workplaces

• Emotional tardiness and conflict among fellows

When things go wrong, people often turn to this familiar mantra of “We need to hold more people accountable.” But if we don’t find the root cause of non-accountability, it lamely translates to “We need to find more people to point fingers at.”, which is wrong and unethical.

To solve the problem of non-accountability:

• Check yourself before approaching others: Ask yourself how responsible do you find yourself for your actions. If you invest your time and energy into something, you attach to that thing on an emotional level and cannot let mistakes hijack the efforts.

• Create a safe environment for people involved: Be mindful of the tone when you approach others for accountability. Hear their version of the story patiently before jumping to conclusions and never intimidate anybody for failure. Accountability is not a one-step requirement. If mistakes are made due to unaccountability, they are resolved due to accountability.

• Ensure there are clarity and mutual understanding: Take feedback from people and engage in discussions and suggestions frequently to ensure that everyone, including yourself, is on the same page.

• Keep things flexible: Without compromising on the deadlines for personal or professional goals, keep yourself open to innovation, learning, and creativity.

Accountability eliminates the time and effort you spend on distracting activities and other unproductive behavior. When you make yourself and others accountable for the actions, you're effectively learning and teaching to value work.

After all, “On good teams, coaches hold players accountable; on great teams, players hold players accountable.” ~ Joe Dumars